Hong Kong Consumer Council falls victim to hackers just week after tech minster called for organisations to review internet security
- Privacy Commissioner’s Office checking data breaches reported by Consumer Council
- Attack comes two weeks after Cyberport tech hub revealed it was hacked, prompting information minister to call for broad checks on internet security
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has become the latest local institution to fall victim to hackers, as privacy authorities revealed an investigation into a leak of personal data has been launched following a report.
A spokesman with the Privacy Commissioner’s Office on Thursday said it was checking data breaches reported by the Consumer Council and urged the watchdog to notify affected parties as soon as possible.
The council, an independent statutory body, said on its website it had experienced a “system disruption” on Wednesday morning, which had affected its hotlines and online price watch services.
Management would meet the press on Friday morning over the data leak, a spokeswoman said, while declining to respond to the Post’s queries on the extent of the breach.
Last week, the Cyberport tech hub apologised for a data theft in August that led to sensitive staff information being put up for sale on the dark web, a hidden collective of websites only accessible by a specialised web browser.
Cyberport only revealed the data loss two weeks ago when staff alerted police, leading to widespread accusations that it had mismanaged its response to the attack and questions about the adequacy of its internet security defences.
He instructed all government departments and public organisations through the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer to “learn a lesson from the Cyberport incident” and immediately review existing security measures.
According to the city’s privacy watchdog, more than 400GB of the hub’s data was exposed.
